July 2017

Winter...... Some exceptionally heavy frosts to be had in July. l think we had 4 or 5 real white outs in a row. Big tall frosts that climbed right up the tops of the trees. Unusual for us here.

Seeing these photos you forget.............

How cold it gets!

But always so beautiful!

With little fluffy woolly ponies always happy to see you for a carrot and a bit of hay

As they head off to their paddock in the morning.

And July gave us a visit from these two from Sydney.

Our gorgeous little nieces, my brother and his wife Donna. 

Georgie was a big hit

As were our days out . Always great fun to be around these two.

And how can we forget . July was the month of The Burning Man...............An idea hatched over a bottle of wine the evening before..... A huge Wicker Man made of Willow and straw.....

Bonfire made and a picket put in place to hold him up

Geoff made the body. A cage of chicken netting and willow poles stuffed with hay...

Simon made the head...............

With help of course!

Out of reeds, willow, bracken............he really was quite magnificent!

 

Then the neck and the arms were put on

And the delicate operation of attaching the head to the rest of the body.

Without it falling off! 

On to the back of the ute..............to its final destination.........the bonfire!

THEN the quandary of getting him OFF the ute and up onto the stack! He was very heavy!

Down.........but not up!

Job done! With ropes and stays.

 

Up he stood, solid as a rock!

An imposing sight with the backdrop of trees!

Mission accomplished! What a team!

Then down went the sun

The darkness fell.......................

A crowd gathered..............

And up in flames he went!

Almost seemed a bit sad to burn him!

But burn he did!

Until down he came..............A great night, a fun day and we are all looking forward to this year when we do it all again!

Maybe we should write a song about it!!

June 2017

June......definitely Winter. Still a rose, but with ice frosting on it by the looks of it!

And bird feeding time to keep the little Silver Eyes going over the coldest months..

And STILL l had hollyhocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But not much else.............as along came Mr Frost!

And over night my Nasturtiums went from this..............

To this..........but at least it meant l could finish the lattice painting!

l thought l didn't fill the pond till later but it looks like it all happened in June.......

I used bidum to underlay the pond ( a very strong weaved fabric they use in drainage systems) . This was to stop stones piercing the pond liner when the weight of the water fills every nook and cranny.

And then in went the pond liner and in went the hose! Scary! All that work and you don't quite know HOW it's going to turn out!

And the WORST thing was I had to keep getting in to pull a crease out here, or nip and tuck a bit there.......and it was June.......and it was cold...........no, it was FREEZING...........and I remember wondering why l didn't do this in the warmer months......

And then around went the rocks............

And it was done!

Then the gravel arrived.......

And the gravel paths got laid..............

With excess biddum used as weed mat... 

And it finally all came together!!! And it looked brilliant!

Then it froze!!!!

But it did look beautiful and l was very happy!!

As the Sun DOES always shines at SOME stage in Winter......

And it is all so pretty....

And it's bonfire time!

Fires get lit up in every corner of the place . Piled up from the Summer or the Autumn before..

Made easier with our brand new ride on mower!

Which Lilli thought was quite exciting!

But not as comfortable as her new bed she got in June to compensate for ALL  the attention the poor old cat was getting!

WHO incidentally was NOT impressed by her new June  forced exercise regime

 Have YOU ever tried to take a cat for a walk????   

But for June she got to go outside. In some huge elaborate cat run we made her on the front veranda.

It worked a treat. She got to sit on the veranda and watch the birds.......

And walk a bit

And walk back..........

And forth...........

And then curl up on a cushion in the sun until it was time to come in at night.

She wasn't really impressed but it sure was better than the month before!!